Shopping

There is no shortage of corporations behaving poorly these days, creating both human and environmental tragedies. Whether they are polluting watersheds, using sweatshop labor or lobbying politicians to start wars that they can profit from, they need to be held accountable. Aside from voting in politicians that are willing to take action against them, you can also "vote with your wallet" by not purchasing products from companies that don't align with your values.

Brick and mortar stores have been on the decline for over a decade as online shopping has become increasingly popular and shows no signs of slowing down. If you are among those that do most of their shopping on Amazon, Ebay, Etsy or any other online store, then you probably have multiple packages coming every week. Rather than copying a tracking number and going to its delivery service's website to enter it and see where your package is, you can manage all of your deliveries under one roof, so to speak.

Now there's an easier way to find that random fastener, screw or bolt. Amazon has added a Find Parts feature to the camera search section of its iOS app. By placing the part you need next to a penny and snapping a photo, the iPhone can quickly calculate the length, diameter and other characteristics of the part. Amazon delivers specs, matching, and related parts almost immediately after scanning an existing piece of hardware.

As it does every year, Mother's Day has snuck up on us and is suddenly this weekend. Whether you send a card or give a more substantial gift, you can never go wrong supplementing it with flowers. The days leading up to the holiday are among the busiest of the year for florists, which means they will be hectic for you as well if you plan to purchase flowers. If you don't already have a go-to florist, there are several iOS flower-ordering apps that could save you a headache this week:

Customers who are familiar with the shopping frenzy that often surrounds highly anticipated new products, such as electronics, video games and toys, now have a valuable new tool to aid in their search for these hard to find items.

Online media and publishing firm Cignal Media LLC announced today the launch of whohas.it, a new online service that allows users to monitor and locate hard to find, out of stock or pre-release products. When paired with the whohas.it app, now available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, hopeful shoppers can receive realtime notifications when the product they are searching for arrives in stock or becomes available for pre-ordering.